Proposing Protection
by SCWLC
Summary: Iroh's asked to help train a waterbender. Sixth in the Proposal series.


Title: Proposing Protection

Author: SCWLC

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my laptop and one unopened jar of Nutella.

Summary: Iroh's asked to help train a waterbender. Sixth in the Proposal series.

Author's Notes: For those who may be concerned that Katara's getting over things too quickly, there's no need to worry, I'm not going to have her miraculously recover from her travails over the course of a single trip from the South Pole to the Fire Nation. By the way, if someone wants to hear from a particular character, drop me a line. I'm really making this up as I go along, so if someone wanted to hear from someone in particular, I can see about working that person's PoV in.

* * *

When he had seen her for the first time in three years, Iroh had almost felt sick. Zuko had told him the tale of what had happened to her, but nothing had prepared him for the sight of the broken woman in front of him. He had seen a lot of broken women in his years. Both as a general in the armies of the Fire Lord, and in his time hiding among the refugees that had crowded Ba Sing Se.

It had been a shock to see her as one of them. They had pulled up to the new docks of the Southern Water Tribe, and she had been there with her father and brother to greet them. He'd watched her own father subtly, carelessly, imply that she wasn't worth marrying, and Sokka display incredible self-control. Iroh knew that if it had been anyone but his father and the chief of his tribe, the young man would have exploded in a fury matching any of the fits Zuko had had while on his fruitless chase for the Avatar as a boy.

Katara had seemed to notice none of it. Expecting it as a matter of course. The young lady Iroh had found so refreshingly straightforward, determined and filled with life had vanished, and a dull, blank-faced woman had taken her place. He'd overheard Sokka hissing to Zuko, "See what I mean?" and had understood the desperation that had driven the young man to arrange a marriage for his sister.

Now that they had been on the ship for several weeks, Iroh was becoming extremely concerned. As delightful as Kanna's presence was, he'd rather have seen Katara recovering than spend time with a harem of beautiful women. For some reason, Suki and Zuko both seemed to have gained some optimism on the matter, but all Iroh had seen was Katara taking lessons on matters of etiquette while at the table, and hiding in her suite.

Which was why he was shocked, and at some pains to hide it, when he answered a knock on his door one evening after dinner, to discover her standing there, twisting her hands nervously in front of her. Determined to give her what little ease he could, Iroh smiled and launched into his 'genial uncle' facade. "Katara! What an unexpected pleasure! To what do I owe this visit?"

"I . . . ah . . . I was hoping I could ask for some advice," she said, hesitantly.

Iroh smiled, and opened the door wide. "Please, come in. I have some tea on. We can share a cup while we talk."

She almost seemed about to balk for a moment, before she visibly steeled herself, and came into the cabin. The waterbender glanced around the room, and murmured to herself, "What is he thinking?"

"Who?" Iroh asked, openly, as he pulled out his favourite tea service of delicate, rose-tinted porcelain pot and cups, and carefully poured boiling water over the leaves of a particularly relaxing brew at the bottom of the pot.

"Wh- oh!" Katara said, "I- nothing. It's nothing." She hastily shook her head, clearly trying to avoid the topic.

"It doesn't sound like nothing," Iroh probed. He carefully placed the pot down to allow the tea to steep.

She looked at him, and then the words seemed to fly loose, almost of their own accord. As though she'd been trying not to say anything for so long, the pressure forced them free. "It's just that th- Zuko placed me in this really nice suite and you're his uncle and everything, and you only have this one room, and it's not anywhere near as nice as where I'm staying which is ridiculous, I mean, you're far more important than I am." At that, she seemed to run down, and almost cringed. It was as though she were afraid of having spoken her mind.

Considering how her father had been acting when they arrived at the South Pole, it was entirely possible. "My dear, you are to be the Fire Lady. If you are concerned, you should not be comparing your quarters to those of an old war rhino like me, but Zuko's rooms."

"But-"

"No 'buts'," he told her sternly. "You are far more important, and for Zuko to treat you with any less honour would be to shame himself. You would not want him to impugn his honour, would you?" he asked. Let her chew on the idea that it was _dishonourable_ to treat her more poorly than her friends and family.

"That's what Zuko said," she told him softly.

Iroh smiled. Good to know that Zuko was aware of things and working on them. Still, his nephew seemed to be leaving her to her own devices a little too much. He'd have to deal with that, but first, he'd see what the specific issue at present was. "You should listen to him then. You know how seriously my nephew takes his honour." He paused, checked briefly on the tea, decided to give it longer and then turned back to her. "But this was not why you were here to see me, was it?" he asked.

"Oh, no," she said. "It's . . . my maid, Shui," she started, then hesitated.

Iroh frowned. Was the maid giving her trouble? Katara was in a state where, if her maid was putting on airs, she was unlikely to put of the fight she ought to. "If you are having difficulty, I am sure a temporary replacement can be found from the crew, and another one-"

"No!" Katara said, hastily. Then she flushed, and looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. For interrupting."

He shook his head. "No need to apologise. If you are not having troubles with her, than what is it you are asking?"

"I . . . she . . ." Katara stiffened her spine and said. "Shui's a waterbender. She asked me to train her because there aren't any waterbenders around in the Fire Nation that could train her."

The former general almost spilt his tea. _Nephew, what are you playing at?_ He turned back once his facial expression was under control and said, "She did not seem to be water tribe when I saw her."

"Her father was taken captive as a child," Katara explained, accepting the cup he offered her. "I wanted to ask your help in training her."

To give himself time to compose his reply, Iroh sipped his tea. "I am not a waterbender, so what is it you want to ask me?"

Her hands convulsively tightening over the cup, Katara replied, "The only person I ever trained was Aa- The Avatar." _Now why was she so hesitant to speak her friend's name?_ Wondered Iroh. He didn't interrupt, however. "He's got parts of the memories of learning the other elements in his previous lives," Katara explained. "It means that teaching him was almost like just reminding him how to do things, not . . . teaching."

"I can see how that would make a difference," Iroh said noncommittally. "But why do you need my help?"

She looked at him earnestly. "You taught Zuko, and he's . . . normal," Katara said. "I mean, he doesn't learn at some superhuman rate, and he's an amazing bender."

"Try telling him that," Iroh said wryly.

The tea seemed to have helped her, and Katara rolled her eyes. "If he's going to forever compare himself to Azula, or to Aang, he's always going to feel completely inadequate. The fact that he can take on half of the benders in his army with no trouble and is equal with most of the rest, should suggest he is better than average."

"If he can't take on all the benders in his armies but an elite few, one on one," qualified Iroh, "I have not trained him well enough."

"Exactly," Katara said. "But I don't know how to train someone who isn't a prodigy." She flushed a little. "Pakku told me once that I was, and I uh . . ." She flushed. "I mean, I wouldn't say I am, but Pakku-"

"He gives out compliments very rarely," Iroh told her. "If he believes you are a waterbending prodigy, then you are."

She blushed very prettily, and murmured a thank you. "What it all means though," she said, "is that I don't want to expect too much of Shui while I train her, but I also don't want to expect too little." The young woman looked at him pleadingly. "I was hoping you'd sit in and . . . let me know if I'm being too hard or too easy on her."

It would give him a better opportunity to watch his nephew's bride, and to see if there was any way to shore up the failing self-confidence of the poor girl. "I would be honoured. When and where would you like to meet?" he asked.

Katara looked extremely relieved. Far more relieved than his meagre assistance would warrant. She said, "Tomorrow morning, two hours after sunrise. On the middle deck, where the pool is."

Intrigued, both by her request, and by the time, Iroh agreed. The next morning, at least part of the reason for the timing became clear, when he noticed it was one of the mornings the moon shared the sky with the sun. It would mean stronger bending for a waterbender in the daylight. The pool made obvious sense, since it would provide a source of water to bend that wouldn't require an inexperienced waterbender to have to draw water all the way from the ocean to the deck, and was large enough for a neophyte to learn with.

At least, Iroh had expected a complete beginner. Instead, it became clear very quickly that the young woman, Shui, had at least some training. After a moment or two more of observation, he realised Katara had already been training her. But when, and where?

"Alright Shui," Katara said once the initial warm-ups were completed. "Since one of the problems a waterbender can have, by accident, if he or she doesn't know it's happening, is accidentally freezing water, I'm going to teach you how to do it deliberately. It'll help because once you know how to do it, you'll notice when you're doing it, and you won't find yourself with a cup of tea suddenly going cold on you, and you'll be able to have ice cold water in summer."

"A lovely sentiment," Iroh said. "It can also be a tremendous weapon," he added. "A waterbender in battle can create darts and knives of ice to throw at an opponent, and with enough water can use ice as a shield against attacks."

"I've also seen it used to great effect to allow a waterbender to move as quickly as an airbender on a sheet of ice," came Zuko's voice abruptly. "And to entrap an enemy. I was particularly impressed by a waterbender causing herself and her opponent to be frozen together in the same ice, and then move through that ice like water, while her opponent couldn't move." His nephew had approached, unnoticed by the three of them.

Katara flushed. "It was desperation."

"It was amazing," Zuko told her. "You looked like a river goddess."

"If I hadn't distracted you, become a target for her it wouldn't have come up," Katara said. "I shouldn't have been there." Hovering under her words, Iroh could almost hear her say, _A girl like me shouldn't have been there_.

Zuko's lips compressed, but he didn't reply to those unspoken words, saying only, "You don't know that, and the fact is, you _did_ defeat Azula. And you saved my life." He turned and said in a tone of voice that left Iroh nearly rolling his eyes at the poor subterfuge, "So what's going on? You're not going to tell me Shui's a waterbender."

Somehow, Katara missed it, even as Shui shot the young Fire Lord a surprised and then calculating look. The future Fire Lady said, somewhat defensively, "She is. She asked me to help her learn bending. I just asked Iroh to help, since I've only ever taught Aang, and it's not the same." She looked at the older man, beseechingly, and suddenly, Iroh understood the role she'd cast him in.

Katara, her confidence shattered by the man-centric views of the Water Tribes, wanted someone to act as a shield against male disapproval. She needed to know that there would be someone to take her side if she did something 'improper', who had the ability to stand against the highest male authority on the ship. That is, Zuko. _Oh, Nephew. You have so far to go with her, to help her become what she should be again._ He would have to walk a fine line. He needed to give her the confidence that she had someone on her side, but not become a crutch.

"I am sure my nephew would never wish to stand in the way of any bender reaching her full potential," Iroh said.

Zuko immediately stepped forward, every inch of him radiating sincerity. "Of course not, Katara. Bending is part of who a bender is, I couldn't take that away from someone."

Iroh suppressed his sense of irony over Ozai's fate. Now wasn't the time. The interaction seemed to settle something in Katara, however. She smiled, squared her shoulders and said to her pupil, "Okay then. Shui, I'm going to bring up some water, and I want you to watch my hands." Iroh raised an eyebrow at Zuko, who dropped to the floor with the flexible ease of youth, completely ignoring both the cushions and the deck chairs, and together they settled in to watch the lesson continue.

The lessons continued, day after day, with an audience collecting to watch. None of the ship's crew had ever seen waterbenders before, so every lesson showed them something new and fascinating about the foreign element. Gradually Katara first forgot her audience, and then one day, started performing.

Shui had finished her final form, when Katara said, "I thought you might want to see how to put together everything you've learned so far." She gestured at the other woman to back away, stepped up to the side of the pool, and suddenly swept into a complex and beautiful dance, sending the water around her whirling through the air, constantly changing shape and form, from liquid to ice and back again, and looking quite impressive. What was more impressive was that she never once used any more complex bending forms than the ones she had taught Shui.

"If there's one thing I learned while travelling with Aang, it's not how much you know, it's how you use it," Katara said calmly through the maelstrom she'd created. "What's more important than fancy tricks is the ability to use what you know to its best effect."

Suddenly, from the floor beside Iroh, Zuko spoke up, "Is that why it was so hard for you to beat me at the North Pole?" he asked, casually. "Because you were still only half trained?"

Even as Iroh wondered what his nephew was playing at, Katara easily changed direction, still not straying from her simplified techniques, and sent water skirling over Zuko, freezing him to the floor, then quickly forming a large globe of ice around him.

"This _is_ familiar," Zuko commented. "But, if you'll recall, easy enough to- awk!" He ended with a squawk as Katara sent the globe and Fire Lord skyrocketing, a rapidly solidifying wave pulling both upward. The globe shrank and then reformed around him, leaving him trapped, twenty feet in the air, frozen into a rather undignified position, and hanging upside down.

Katara turned to Shui. "As you can see, as long as you think fast and maintain control, you can do a lot with very little training."

She swept off, and left her applauding audience behind. Iroh looked at his nephew. "What was that about?"

"I wanted her to know that, just because the Water Tribes have those ridiculous strictures about women bending, it doesn't mean the rest of us do." Zuko looked around from his spot up in the air and then sighed. "I just wish I'd thought of something else." He concentrated for a moment, heating his body enough to melt some of the ice around him and managed to wriggle himself mostly free. Then he slipped, slid facefirst down the sheet of ice and landed in a heap at the bottom. "Damn."

As his nephew stood, rubbing at the various sore spots his fall had left him, Iroh commented, "If you'd asked her to let you out, at least only your ego would be hurting."


End file.
